There are less than two months left before the November elections, and cryptocurrency voters are closely watching how the attitudes of candidates are changing, especially with an apparent turnaround from a significant number of Republicans.
Stand With Crypto, a digital assets advocacy group backed by crypto exchange giant Coinbase, is tracking the political landscape's attitudes and statements regarding the industry. What is the current state of crypto support among 2024 candidates?
An Apparent Shift Among Democratic Senators
With just weeks ahead of the elections, Stand With Crypto's rankings have reflected an apparent change among Democratic senatorial candidates, albeit still significantly disproportionate to the number of Republican senatorial runners who have an A (strongly supportive) rating.
There are five senatorial candidates from the Democratic Party who have been given an A rating: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, and Ron Wyden of Oregon.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan has a B (somewhat supportive) rating, senators Mark Kelly of Arizona, Bob Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania, Bob Menendez of New Jersey, and Jon Tester of Montana have a C (neutral) rating, and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was given a D (somewhat against). Most other senatorial candidates from the party got an F (strongly against).
House Dems Moving to Catch Up with GOP
In the House of Representatives, there is a much more evident shift among Democratic members. Dozens of candidates have been given an A rating, including Representatives Wiley Nickel of North Carolina, Ritchie Torres of New York, Ro Khanna of California, and even former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
In contrast to the House Dems' ratings, a vast majority of Republicans running for House seats received an A rating, including GOP Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota, Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, French Hill of Arkansas, James Comer of Kentucky, and Mike Flood of Nebraska.
As of early Wednesday, only 12 GOP senatorial candidates have either a B or pending rating, and three got an F, namely Matt Rosendale of Montana, Andy Biggs of Arizona, and Nick LaLota of New York.
The State of Crypto Scores in Key Races
Stand With Crypto has also been monitoring the crypto views of the top two races in the country for November: presidential and vice presidential.
The GOP's Donald Trump has an A rating, and so does his running mate J.D. Vance. By contrast, Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz have no rating as of early Wednesday. The advocacy group notes that there is not enough information to determine Kamala's score as she has only made one statement about the industry throughout her career, while Walz currently has "no stance on crypto."
Stand With Crypto's Endorsed Candidates
The digital assets advocacy organization has a page dedicated to 21 candidates it endorses (11 Republicans and 10 Democrats), the top candidate on its list being Yadira Caraveo, D-Colo., followed by Zach Nunn, R-Iowa.
Caraveo has been vocally supportive of a regulatory framework that should provide clarity for the crypto industry. She also voted in favor of the FIT21 bill and a resolution that sought to overturn the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) divisive SAB 121 bulletin that the crypto industry has opposed.
Nunn, like Caraveo, voted in favor of the SAB 121 resolution. He has called out the SEC's "vendetta against cryptocurrency" and vowed to defend Iowans' freedom to use their digital assets.
